She’s Just my Project Partner
by Wizardwolf 1020
Summary: Youhei had been assigned this big history project that will be a make or break for his future, and his partner is this girl named Zero. And shes a witch... Yeah theres definitely nothing going on between them.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so let's get some things straight. This is my first fanfiction on this site, and I'm posting this on my phone so of course it's going to look weird for some people I think. Now, I'm writing this fanfic because as some people have obviously seen the that there are only like 4 Grimoire of Zero fanfics, this one being the 5th and I was getting annoyed with the lack of stories and thought, "F*ck it, ill write one myself." And here I am. So some background on the story, this takes place in a modern era of the Grimoire of Zero universe, many things are the same as there are still beast fallen but they are treated more equally now, though there are special conditions made for them, if you've seen the movie "Zootopia" then good for you, you'll see what I mean by conditions. Magic is now fully integrated into society, which will be seen in the story. The characters are all reincarnations of their anime/manga/light novel selves so they'll retain 'some' of their traits. The plot has some inspiration from other franchises that you all can point out in the comment section when you notice it if you want, your choice, and I'll let you know if it's true. Lastly, Mercenary/Zero, I'll admit that I'm a sucker for that ship, Mercenary can shout that he can't like her all he wants because she's a witch but in the end when it comes to love, something like that doesn't matter, it's the person themselves, individually, specifically, etc. that counts when it comes to love, not their group, or race, or whatever, it's just stereotyping there. Hopefully some people with feelings problems learned something from that. Anyways enough with the stalling, seriously it's almost like a paragraph long, on with the story.**

The sound of his phone, wringing as his alarm clock woke him from his slumber. Slowly he opened his eyes scanning his room before lifting his phone from his night stand to check the time... 6:23 a.m.,

'Shit I gotta get moving to make it before class starts!'

The male quickly rises from bed and moves fast through his room to get ready. After putting on his red shirt, brown jean jacket and pants, as well as specially made shoes, he grabbed his phone and bag and rushed down stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, in the kitchen was his mother who was currently cleaning some pans in the sink, after hearing his quick steps, more like stomps, she turned to see him come around the corner and grabbing some cooked toast as a quick breakfast,

"Oh Youhei, your finally up. Better hurry or you'll miss the train to school! Your brother already left so don't ask."

"*muffled* I know!"

The adolescent now known as Youhei quickly said with the food in his mouth as he rushed out the door with a quick muffled good bye and love you. Once out of the house Youhei sprinted down the side walk to the train station, with the occasional jay walking and avoiding cars when crossing the street. Once he reached the station he quickly looked for his designated cart,

'Let's see human... human... Ah! There it is! Beast fallen.'

He said in his head as he searched for his ride. As you may have read, Youhei is a Beast fallen, a man that is part human and part beast, he along with many others were born this way, and while originally Beast fallen were created through sorcery and could be transformed back to a human form, over the centuries its become less like that. Now a days, it's evolved, mutated so to say, into a gene like all others, like hair and eye color, skin color, etc. Which means it can't be undone as you can't use magic to get rid of something that makes up a person, it's just not possible anymore. Youhei is a tiger Beast fallen, more specifically a white tiger Beast fallen. The things made for Beast fallen are special produced for their types, meaning the size of their clothes, phones, doors, and all other necessities are made specifically for them.

So the cart Youhei's currently entering is bigger than the standard human cart. He chose to stand and hold onto the railing connected to the ceiling for support. By now the piece of toast he was eating is gone, eaten and in his stomach. He took out his phone, which was bigger than an average humans (can be Apple, Samsung, or something else. You decide.) and made out of a material strong enough that he can't accidentally crush it with his bare-I mean furry and padded hands. He also plugged in his ear phones into his cat ears, and plugged the other end into the port in his phone and began to listen to his songs. He obviously like them as evident by the swaying of his tail, and looked out the window to look at the city he lived in and admired the architecture. He was interrupted from his daydreaming by the vibration of his phone, currently in his hand. He looked at the alert that popped up.

It was a news alert, covering a currently on going story,

'More humans and Beast fallen go missing... The terrorist group known as the "Anti-Mages" are prime suspects of incident.'

He read out in his head,

'Them again huh? I wonder how long until they're caught.'

He entertained himself for the rest of the ride by watching videos, playing games, or just daydreaming. When the train got to his stop, he and some others shuffled out of the train and went with their days. He walked some roads more before reaching his destination. His High School.

As Youhei walked through the courtyard, still listening to his music, he noticed Beast fallen and humans conversing happily as always. At least for him it was common, it wasn't like that centuries ago. He headed into the main building and made it to class just as the first bell rang. The subject. History. He recalled that they were being assigned a project today. A big one from what he remembered his teacher said.

The beginning of class followed the normal procedures, everyone talking to each other, being loud, obnoxious, laughing like idiots, the teacher getting them to quiet down and into their seats, the usual. Youhei didn't have friends in this class, some in his others, but not all of them, so he stayed quiet and to himself. Then there was attendance and funny enough, everyone is here which doesn't happen all the time. The teacher went on about saying that everyone was getting the project today and that he was assigning the partners,

'Great just what I need. Not just a project I'm probably gonna barely get a passing grade for but also have to deal with someone I dislike and find annoying until this is over. Everything's just peachy.'

He thought in obviously annoyed. The teacher said he'll go more in depth on the project after the partners are assigned,

"Now listen class, whoever I partner you with, you two will be sitting together in class until the projects over, and I don't want to hear any 'buts', they're meant for sitting not excuses."

Youhei groaned in response to this. The teacher began calling the names of the partners, he didn't pay attention until he heard his name get called,

"Youhei your partner is... Zero. Your topic is the beginning of the Magic age, more specifically the "Grimoire of Zero"."

 **Ok first chapter done, so let me know what you think. Probably sucks, but hopefully it'll get better. The beginning of every story is always tough for me, but once everything gets going and things are explained it'll get easier. Have a good day!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter!! Alright, so I decided to post updates whenever I have free time in study hall and no work to do like studying or homework or whatever. So the project will be explained in this chapter, Youhei will converse and get associated with Zero and then it's school stuff. You'll see. So enough stalling, on with the story.**

Youhei looked around at first, he was far enough into the year to know who was who. But a student named "Zero" is new, someone with that name would be easy to remember by the name alone due to how odd it is, probably a transfer student is what he surmised. Then he noticed it. The purple hood that covered their head, sure anyone could be wearing it but he got this... feeling that this Zero was the one wearing it,

"Also Youhei, Zero is new here so I would like you to be her guide around the school when you have the chance."

His teacher added, so his assumption was right, she's new to the school. He got up and moved quickly to where she was, to stop looking like the figurative elephant in the room as an actual elephant beast fallen was sitting two rows behind him, and took a seat next to her. Luckily the seat wasn't taken so there didn't have to be an awkward moment of changing seats.

The two like many other students had a silent agreement to wait until the presentation was over to have formal greetings. The teacher went on with assigning more partners until he was done,

"Now on with the subject of today's meeting. As you may have guessed, each group was assigned a different time period and subject to research on but here's the deal. In today's society, access to all the information you need is in the palm of your hand-"

He takes out his phone to demonstrate what he means,

"Back then, people didn't have this, this had to actively travel, study, kill, research, and many other ways to acquire the half the knowledge that you have access to on your phone. So this project is to be a simulation of that, now I'm not saying you go kill somebody, but instead of using your 'Googles', or 'Safaris', and especially not your 'Wikipedias', you go to museums and take notes on whatever you need and write a timeline of events that are as close to truth as possible because it is possible for history to be altered by those with powerso due what you can to get as close as possible to being accurate as possible, you'll never know if you find out that what's in the textbooks is false, and provide evidence and pictures for what you find. Using your phone to get the information means getting a zero, and I will know as the moment you all stepped into class, a data spell was placed on your phones that will let me know that you are cheating and you will get an automatic zero-"

Nearly everyone's eyes bulged hearing this and the teacher tilted his head towards the door where nearly all of them swung their heads to to see that a slip of paper was taped above the door with glyphs drawn into it. From his extremely limited experience on magic craft, Youhei could tell that some of the symbols meant 'gate' and 'mark'. The spell must have worked like one of those metals detectors at the air port, so then the moment they stepped through the door, a spell was placed on their phones that will alarm the teacher if they searched up the information for the project. As everyone looked back to the teacher, now listening intently now due to his trick, he continued,

"Now I will provide your groups with lists of places to go to acquire the information you need, places like museums or landmarks, and you _are allowed to search for more places and books on your phones but that's it._ Now don't worry about time as you will have plenty, you'll have up to the last quarter of the school year to finish this so that gives you plenty of time to go around and get what you need. Any questions?"

Surprisingly no one had any, he then said for everyone to start getting acquainted with their partners, so they did. Youhei turned his head towards Zero to see the hood still over her head, she slightly turned towards him and he got a better view of her features. The hood still covered most of her facial features but he could see that her hair is white like snow with a lightish purple color at the tips, her eyes were purple like jewels, (in his subconscious opinion) but that was all he could see at the moment,

"So your Zero?"

"Correct."

She responds, turning more towards him as the conversation continued,

"And your Youhei I presume?"

"Las' time I checked, yea'."

He said playing it off as a joke. Before she could continue he asks a very... obvious question,

"Why are ya' wearing that hood over yer' head?"

"My brother told me so as to not bring much attention, why? Does it do the opposite of its purpose?"

"Not unless ya' wanna look like the Unabomber."

He said as he lifts the hood off her head. And chokes on air at what he sees... she was... beautiful,

'She's...She's-' _An exceedingly beautiful woman at that.'_

He struggled to merely think that, the last part though. I felt almost as if it wasn't his own. But he didn't question that as I held undeniable truth. Before he did anything else or made a bigger fool of himself than he probably did, he quickly shoves the hood back over her head to keep his sanity. Zero made a sound that probably meant she questioned his sudden actions. She probably thought that he viewed her as hideous-the exact opposite of what went through his head,

"Do I really look that hideous?"

"-YES!"

He responds quickly rather insulting her than accidentally saying what went through his head. Hoping to change the subject, he asks her about where she came from as she's new to the school,

"Well up till now, I've been home schooled and never experienced what it was like to go to a normal high school like anyone else. To do that I simply bothered my brother until he let me go."

Youhei sweat dropped at that as he imagined a chibi Zero beating and crying childishly on someone's leg to let her go.

"So what's the home school experience like?"

"Boring but effective(lonely), spent most of my time studying(wanted to leave). But it was nice(to see the outside world), it was home(a prison)."

"Hm."

He nodded in understanding. The conversation would have continued but the teacher interrupted saying that it was still a class and it was time to get to work.

After history was over, Youhei began to move to his next class when he noticed Zero following him. At that moment he remembered that he was her guide, he face palmed at forgetting that. He knew had to be quick if he was to make it on time,

"Hey what's yer' next class?"

"...Potion brewing honors."

He quickly gave her directions to the science building and where the room was and hurried off to class leaving Zero there in the hall way watching him leave.

It was lunch after that class and as Youhei was leaving the classroom he quickly stopped in his tracks as he nearly bumped into Zero. Staring wide eyed down at her, he wondered how she got there so fast. Their classes were basically on separate ends of the school, on different floors,

"H-how-"

"Agility magic mixed with knowledge of detours and short cuts. Important principles for an up and coming mage when traversing through enemy territory in a hurry."

She's here for not even one day and she knows the layout of the whole school already... and apparently the school is enemy territory. He can roll with that,

"Okay then, why are ya' here?"

"Because as the teacher said, you are to be my guide today, and as it is our lunch period now, I deem it necessary that we begin discussing our plans for this project. I plan on receiving the highest grade so it's best we begin this now."

Ok one, why does he need to be here guide if she already knows how to get around, and two... He's actually relieved that his partner is someone who takes priority to-

"And I don't know anyone here so I have nothing better to do."

...That's ok too. As much as she's practically shoving her way into his personal life, it's ok. He sighed at this and turned, giving her a gesture with his arm to follow. She followed behind him silently and dutifully as they made their way to the cafeteria, his hands in his pockets giving lazy greetings to students both human and beastfallen alike as they passed through in response to their hellos and the use of his nickname around school. Mercenary. He could honestly care less what they thought about him, he doesn't know them and vice versa so it didn't matter. Behind him, Zero was taking notice to these comments and increased her pace so she was standing beside him. She looked up at him with what he could guess was a questioning expression,

"Why did they call you 'Mercenary'? Are you a man for hire as a side job?"

"Wha'?! No! No, just a nickname ya' know. I'm on the football team and I guess it comes from how when I'm told to tackle someone or block 'em, I get it done. Sometimes I order for extra compensation if it's troublesome, so they call me Mercenary as a title or somethin', I don' care."

"Do you desire me to call me by your nickname then?"

"Did ya' hear wha' I jus' said? I don' care."

"Very well, I shall continue call you by your real name then, as a way to differentiate me from the rest."

He rolled his eyes at her response. They arrived at the cafeteria, alive as ever with students moving around, getting food, conversing, just being plain _noisy_ and that reminds him how much he hates his excellent hearing, to them it's fine, to him it's like he's in a out of control concert, but he's gotten used to it.

He began looking around the area as if searching for something, or someone,

'Where is he?'

Youhei then saw it. The waving hand coming from a dog-I mean wolf beastfallen. He moved through the area to him not caring whether his hooded partner was following or not. She was sure enough and with ease considering how packed the place was. When they reached the table, they took a seat across from the wolf beastfallen,

"Hey Holdem, how's your day so far?"

"Alright, who's the hooded chick?"

"I'm not a chicken you dog." Zero responded, crossing her arms taking the remark as an offense. Youhei sweat dropped as he dropped his head, he thought early that he was relieved about something but he can't remember because it's overshadowed by the sheer stupidity of those around him, Holdem for one, and now hopefully not Zero. Holdem is his brother, more specifically adopted, his parents (the angels in disguise they are) took him in. The world they live in still has its darkness, Holdem was abandoned by his birth givers not because of the fact that he was a beastfallen, in a way sort of, remember, in the world they live in now, the beastfallen are born not by curse or magic, as the ritual is now long forgotten, but by genetics like any other normal person. For a beastfallen to be born, one of the parents either the mother or father had to be one with the beastfallen genes being dominant. And Holden's 'parents', if they even deserved that were a married, human couple. So when the husband saw Holdem, he wasn't happy, there was an affair, and he took his rage out on both. Eventually he abandoned Holdem in the city and left him to die, defenseless. Holdems fate was thought to have been sealed, but then Youheis mother and father found him and after some searching and questioning, they happily settled with adopting him having gotten attached to him along the way. Youhei and Holdem were practically the same age, maybe a few months apart at most. They grew up together and felt proud to call each other brothers. Though when Holdem gets on his little sprees with girls, Youhei can't help but feel ill will towards Holdems biological mother whenever he sees it, blaming her for his playboy actions. Youhei spent so much time with Holdem that he subconsciously developed some of Holdems traits, the same with Holdem. Also, during that time he's learned to never, and I mean _never_ call Holdem a dog, it would mean calling him more a mans pet, and isn't a very manly description of him, the latter takes particular offense to him when he's with some girls he tries to impress with his physique.

So Zero calling him a dog would bring undesired consequences,

"IM NOT A DOG!!"

Holdem began to get up in rage and pounce at her,

 _"Sit."_

And sat right back down, back straight, hands on lap, and stared ahead like a soldier with a straight face, emotion can only be seen from his eyes which showed surprise and some fear. Some students around them looked over at what was happening, not all, some, as the rest just either didn't care or were pointedly ignoring the scene. Zero had stopped Holdem with a simple command in a voice that showed authority and in its own way saying, 'Try me and I will mop the floor with your sorry, pathetic being you whelp.'. Youhei himself almost did what Holdem did without thinking it, his body deciding the best course of action for survival before remembering that he wasn't the target and was safe. During the order, a gust of wind blew at Zero, strong enough to push her hood off, revealing a beauty to all. Everyone in the vicinity stared at her now, the people that originally saw the ordeal and those who weren't. It was like a her face reveal sent a sensation to all that told them to look at her. The humans, beastfallen, all looked at her like she was a revelation, and Youhei saw it. The boys stared at her with admiration and, ugh, hunger, the girls stared at her with jealousy and uncertainty, uncertainty most likely coming from the girls that would talk about their beauty and how it was unmached. Then Zero just poofed in and outshined them by just using what she was born with. Their egos trampled over like paper by Zero form.

Everyone continued to stare like idiots while Youhei put a hand over his eyes and prayed for it to end and things go back to normal. As if sensing his discomfort, she looked around at everyone, stood up and spoke out,

"Staring at us like that is improper and a waste of time so get back to what your were doing while there's still time before class." Almost immediately, everyone turned and went back to what they were doing, almost as if being put under a spell. Or maybe being released from one, however you see it. She sat back down and cleared her voice, trying to take away the awkward atmosphere. Holdem eased out of his statued state and relaxed,

"Sorry for that, I'll be sure not to refer to you as that next time, I didn't mean any insult."

"Ah it's ok, I may have overreacted a little bit. Let's start over, I'm Holdem, this doofuses brother-" he ignored Youheis glare. "-Nice to meet you."

"Zero, nice to meet you as well." She responded paying no mind to the jab at Youhei at all. They shook hands in a friendly manner,

"Ah, but the pleasures all mine." He added, lifting her hand, kissing the back of it lightly. Youhei feels the urge to give the mut a real reason to have his tail between his legs, but doesn't know why. Zero untangled her hand from Holdems and moved it back towards herself,

"Indeed it is, now for the reason why I'm here. Youhei, we must discuss our plans for our project, an A and above is our goal. Nothing less, so I suggest we-" Suddenly her stomach growled, almost like some monster and she stopped speaking. Zero was quiet for a moment, maybe a minute and then she stood,

"But first, I desire filling myself with sustenance and having one of these 'Tacos' I hear of." She turned and walked off to the lunch line, leaving Youhei and Holdem to speak to each other. Holdem looked to Youhei, the tiger already knowing where this is going,

"Brother, where the hell did you find her?"

"We were assigned this project as partners, I didn't look for 'er. Don't ya' dare do anythin' stupid that will drive 'er off or I swear I'll-"

"I won't, I won't. It's just that damn she's something else. I don't know what but she is. That face, figure, attitude, just everything about her is screaming her dominance." He responded, elated. Maybe it's like a challenge to him like the harder they are to get the more rewarding or some crap. Youhei turned to look at where Zero was, now taking in her figure in its entirety. She was slim with a eloquence that fitted her, the dark purple jacket hoodie she wore went down to her hips with light purple linings coating around the jacket like an artistic design with white cuffs at the end of her sleeves, the inside of her hood was white as well and the jacket was held closed by these Golden like buttons that were the size of the tip of his finger, not all of the buttons were buttoned in only the center most button and the two above it were used. She wore black jeans that hugged her lower half well and black boots that went up to her shins. Most of her hair was tied back into a small ponytail letting only some of the large amounts of hair she most likely had dangle down from the ponytail, front allowed bangs to cover her forehead and some strands of her hair reached down low at the sides of her face like a frame, only stopping at the fronts of her shoulders. Zero was waiting patiently in line for her turn to go up and grab her food, though it was obvious her patience was weighing thinner by the second. She looked lovely though the person that believed that won't admit it.

"I think I'm turned on." Holdem suddenly remarked, Youhei swung his head towards him looking disgusted. He shook his head in exasperation, Holdem took notice to this and gave him a cheeky smile,

"Hey you like it too."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Oh yeah, prove it."

"Your tail was wagging."

Youhei shot his head towards where his tail is and saw it swaying left and right, slowing down gradually. He grabbed and snarled at it,

'Damn traitorous bitch!' He angrily spoke in his head. This is what he meant by 'subconsciously developed some of Holdems traits' and he really hates it sometimes. Holdem chuckles uncontrollably behind him at his expense.

 **Alright, end of chapter two. I know this took a while and it's just because things have been very busy and squeezing this in is just difficult so I try to find time but it's not that easy. Fun fact, when Zero had her 'big reveal' to the school, not all of the things actually happened, some of it is just from someone's perspective, but who? *giggles* Anyways, I decided that the school isn't going to play that much importance to the story, there's gonna be some scenes there and development but not much really. Most of it all will be with Youhei and Zero, working on the project, getting to know each other, falling in love, drama, fighting a crime syndicate. You know, the usual fictional teenager romance story. And I know I'm shit at descriptions as well as when to include them, I sometimes forget and so I just add in the moment that feels most fit to put in. Zeros outfit is mostly based off hers in the anime/manga/light novel just with some changes for originality and to look more fitting for a modern setting. Also the line around the beginning of the chapter where Youhei mentally calls Zero a exceedingly beautiful woman is taken from the English translation of the light novel that was made NanoDesu. Search them up, their awesome, they already have volume one finished and are working on volume two. So anyways, have a good day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so I'm going to just make this short so we can get on with the story. I want to say thank you to** **ChaosBreaker13 for helping me with names for characters as there are going to be originals in the story along with returning so their help was really appreciated**. **Second, I plan to make this story a "series" with multiple works being "seasons" so to say. Basically, this work is season 1, then there'll be a season 2 and so on. Along the way different works will be created with their own stories that'll be revealed from this one, so like some characters that make their first appearance in this series will have their own stories and maybe even seasons in other works. Ok, this wasn't short like I said it would be but it was important that I got that off my chest. On with the story!**

Youhei collapsed onto his bed when he got into his room. He just finished taking a shower and _ugh_ drying himself afterwards. He got back home from Football practice that day. The same day he met her. _Zero._

He was completely and utterly exhausted: the school day alone, practice, and this project. Two were mentally and emotionally taxing, and one was physical. The project part of the day was the most exhausting, with the meeting of this girl Zero somehow brought change to his normal routine life. Oh god, he hopped this wasn't turning into some damn movie where this part is the whole changing of the main characters normal, then some stupid "getting the hang of it" montage or whatever where everything is good, then comes the reveal of something bad that destroys the good time the characters were having, bringing them to their lowest, and then some corny inspirational speech or life lesson and the hero gets back up and sets everything right. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like it was actually going to happen, which depressed Youhei even more.

Now don't get him wrong, Youhei isn't some depressed, narcissist, douche. He can actually be really happy and optimistic... It's just... Right now he's a little down, but it'll only be for about another month or two that he'll be like this. He's just gotta wait a little more.

Youhei changed his thought back to the project and what it meant. If he passes, he can stay on the team, if he fails, he can kiss possible scholarships goodbye and most likely college with since he won't be able pay for it. He doesn't want to join the league or whatever when he grows up, he wants to become a chef and open a restaurant, funny thinking that since he's a beastfallen and not all really dream of that, but he does, thanks to his parents. He always admired how they chose to run a restaurant when they could have gone with anything else, used their time, effort, and brain cells for anything else, but they chose cooking because they enjoyed it the most. Even though it's not working out for them. They're great chefs, two of the best infact, but in the business world, they're not. Some fancier restaurants nearby just do better at grabbing attention. Those same ones making offers to hire his parents and pay them well only if they close down and cook under their name, but they refuse because it would mean that whatever they made, the credit would go to the owner, not them, and he was inspired by that. Whatever he made, _he_ would take pride in being the one to make it. That's the future he wanted: marry a nice girl, open a restaurant, live comfortably, and maybe have kids.

As he thought about that, he began to feel drowsy and his eyes were becoming heavy. His last thoughts were of his future before falling asleep, taking a nap. **(A Cat nap. Sorry, couldn't resist)**

 _'...My...Future...zzzz-'_

 _It was very... Empty so to say. His surroundings were mostly this white void except for himself and a couple meters of land around him that circled him like, well, a circle. Shocker right? Anyway, he felt a little odd like he was himself yet he wasn't. He felt no control over his body as it moved in a motion like it was cleaning dishes, which is what it was doing. A bucket filled with water and soap was in front of him on a counter from what the white abyss allowed him to see. The dishes had this shine to them, not like they were so clean they'd sparkle, but so did the bucket, it reminded him of lights on the streets late at night like on cars or stop light where from a distance looked like they had light beaming up and bellow them as a sort of effect._

 _It looked as if he was following a routine, one he does every day but stops when he hears a voice,_

 _"PAPA!" Came the voice of a innocent, little child, who was excited. From the sound of the footsteps, they were running towards him. He put down the plate he was cleaning and dried his hands before turning towards the newcomer._

 _Running in was a little boy, about four or five years old, he had noticeably white hair with faint purple colored tips at the ends, a hairstyle that had his hair hanging down with bangs covering his forehead in style similar so someone he knew, he wore a white shirt that was a little big for his size but could easily be grown into given time with black shorts that reached just above his knees. He was barefoot with noticeable dirt and other grass at the bottoms, he was most likely playing outside,_

 _"Hey buddy, how was it outside, ya' have any fun?" 'Youhei' responded in greeting, his voice seemed older, more gruff, and spoke like a father would to their child as he picked the boy up by his sides with both hands. The child looked so small in his hands, he could practically connect the tips of his fingers to their other hand copies. He held the boy high, a little over his head as he had the strength. Youhei was able to have a closer inspection of the child now. The boys eyes were purple colored like someone he knew but couldn't think of who at the moment, even had a similar face. He had markings on his face that closely resembled his own, it was as if someone tattooed the kid with his birthmarks, the ones on the sides of his face, eyebrows and upper head, and maybe even the one that runs from his tail up to the top of his head, though the boy didn't have a tail, he even has the markings at the tops of Youheis ears on his human ones, he had no cat ears. The child had a bright, toothy grin on his face, that showed some sharp teeth like the fangs of a tiger, one that made Youhei feel warm inside and felt like literally slaughtering all that threaten the sweet child in his arms-hands, his hands(he felt like cradling him). The kind of protectiveness a father would have for their child. The boy nodded happily in a fast pace._

 _"That's good ta hear. Jus' be careful when runnin on rocks. Ok?" The infant nodded again, obedient as always(wait how did he know that?). Youhei set him down and ruffled his hair to wich the child giggled in response._

 _"By the way, where's yer mother?"_

 _"She's in your room writing in her book about magic." He said, looking up at Youhei. The mention of the word 'magic' set off alarms in his head,_

 _'Wait, WHA-?!' Was all he could mentally say before the dream ended_

Youhei suddenly jerked awake, lightly panting, before looking around to see he was back in his room. Telling from the amount of light coming through his window, or lack there of, it was late at night, probably time for dinner.

'What was that dream? Who was that kid? Who the hell's his mom? And Why was I washing dishes with a bucket of water and not in a sink or dishwasher?!'

Those were the questions that filled his mind. So many questions, yet very little answers. He decided to just forget about and change into a more comfortable attire for dinner as he got off his bed. He plugged his phone into its charger for the first time since that morning, it really needed it.

Youhei settled with plain white T-shirt and some black gym shorts(totally not because it was similar to what the kid in the dream wore). He unplugged his phone, slipped it into his pocket and started heading downstairs for dinner. As he went down the steps he heard chatter, it was between Holdem and their parents, and from what he could hear it was about the new girl, Zero. Great. He doesn't want to be reminded of how the day went with her. In summery, she has quite the stomach for a slim girl, follows around like a lost puppy, and when school was over, he had to lead her to the train station(same one he takes apparently) before he had run off to practice. Honestly, he wouldn't mind some of that if it weren't for one thing. The fact that he practically(literally) shouted that she was ugly in class by saying yes makes him feel like he made a fool of himself. From his experience, women don't like being called ugly, though it seems she didn't mind, he still feels guilty for that and every time she's mentioned, that's what he remembers. It's stupid, but he can't help it. The sooner he says sorry and they fix that up, the sooner they can have a normal partnership. He's tried throughout the day but could never find a right moment to bring it up. You can't just say, "hey sorry for calling you hideous" without having to flow up with an explanation of, "when actually you are very beautiful and make me feel like I need to second guess everything I say" or something along those lines.

When he entered the dining room, they were practically ready to start dinner. Holdem was setting down the plates with their parents, both were human by the way. In the beginning it was odd as genetics go, one parent needed to be a beastfallen for a child to be one, they ran the DNA test and Youhei and his father were completely compatible. The anomaly was written off as the beastfallen gene having been a dormant trait that took effect for Youhei. Even though his grandparents and their parents weren't beastfallen. But even if Youhei wasn't his biological son, his father, the kind and generous man he is, would still love him like a father would. Honestly, Youhei has a wonderful family, he couldn't pick any other people.

It's a shame though, that he missed his mother's cooking skills at work for studying purposes and practice, but there's always next time. They all sat down and began to eat, thoroughly enjoying their food, and it looked like it was going to be fine... Until Holdem mentioned the new girl at school. Now here's the thing, when growing up Holdem and Youheis' father figuratively beat it into their heads to treat women with respect and be kind to them, effective enough that when Holdem got flirtatious with girls, he'd treat them with the up most respect and that when moving between them, would give flowers, tell them their beautiful, and that they'll find the perfect guy out there and that guy just isn't him. In the beginning when they messed up and insulted a girl, their father showed no mercy. In his prime their father was the practical king of pranks, so he'd give into his pranking urges to punish them, it'd range from washing their clothes to baby size, to changing the shampoo and body wash in the shower to hair dye, color most often being pink. There were a lot more things he'd do but to spare some individuals from the pranksters who are likely reading this, won't be mentioned.

The moment their father heard this there was a gleam or twinkle in one of his eyes before they shifted to Youhei. He knew it was coming, and he couldn't lie to his father do avoid the inevitable punishment, the man knew him like he knew the back of his hand, and man did that guy know how many hairs he had on his skin and scars from growing up learning to cook. Their mother smiled at this and, ever the friendly woman she is, asked,

"Really? Is she a new friend Youhei?" She asked as she turned from Holdem to the Tiger beastfallen,

"No! She' just my project partner. That's all."

"Did you treat her like a gentleman would?" Asked his father. The question of the dinner finally asked,

'Well here goes everything.'

"I-I did..." Youhei responded, lightly sweating along with his stutter-

"Sweating and stuttering, your lying! Now tell me, what did you do?"

'SHIT!'

"I... Well I... *sigh* I accidentally called her ugly when she really wasn't- I freaked out ok, I didn't really mean it."

"HA, knew I wasn't the only one!"

"Well that's sweet... sort of."

"Doesn't change the fact that he still called her that, probably hasn't said sorry yet, and he lied just now. Prepare yourself." His father said, looking directly at him during the last part. Youhei gulped and felt like he was just given his death sentence, practically was, and they went back to dinner as if what happened just now didn't happen at all,

"Damn you Holdem-"

"-Language." His mother interrupted still looking at her food while eating,

"... *sigh* Darn you Holdem."

Somewhere else at that moment in a mansion that had fortified walls surrounding it as well as a magic barrier that was invisible to the naked eye that covered the building like a dome was Zero in her room. The room was dark as the lights were out that was a lot more like a library/office with a nice bed and a nightstand just added in to give it the title of 'bedroom'. There was no TV, posters, radio, anything that would make it a normal room, the only electronics in the room were the lights: the ones for the room itself, and the lamp on her desk, and her phone and charger, that's it. Zero was in her pajamas: a simple white dress, sitting on the little ground the ledge in front of her window gave, looking out into the night sky. At the moment she felt really, really happy and excited. She finally got to see what was beyond those high walls and magic barrier. Yes, she could see a good amount from her bedroom window and the other windows on the second floor but there was a difference from seeing things from there and seeing things while _out_ there if anyone understood what she meant. She finally got to go to a normal school with normal people her age, and excitingly got assigned a partner project on her first day, she never had that before. She got to have normal greasy school lunch that sometimes made you question if it was poisoned or not, met people and had _conversations,_ it was all just so amazing and she gets to go back tomorrow and continue the adventure called "high school". Then she thinks about the Tiger beastfallen she met, Youhei it was, and though their meeting was a little odd at first with a few stumbles, she finds him interesting. Unlike a lot of the people there where it only takes some minutes to figure out the kind of person they are, like a Holdem guy who he says is his brother, she was able to find out through his greetings and actions is flirtatious, friendly, and above all else, self-conscious or at least in a way where he doesn't like being called a dog. Youhei however, is different, she can tell he's a caring kind of person, but also stays at a distance, keeping people from learning about who he really is. It makes her want to find out more about him. In all honesty, she wants to be around him more and hopefully he'll become her first friend. She just... wants to 'hang out with him' as they call it. He is the first person she really got acquainted with and is like a puzzle to solve.

She really hopes they can be friends and not just project partners.


	4. Chapter 4

To say that their first research gathering was great is a lie. Youhei was bored out of his mind as he and Zero decided that they'd start researching on the history of magic by starting with researching what it was derived from. Sorcery. And they'd do that by going to the bane of his existence. The library. Honest to god he really wanted to focuse but it was all just so confusing and so it became boring. But he has to do his fair share of the work or he'll never stop feeling guilty.

Zero was apparently the opposite in this situation. It was all so interesting and fascinating, learning how what was so simple, quick, and easy now, was very taxing and time consuming back then just to prepare. Learning the history of the art she wants to make a career out of is great. Truly, the writer of the Grimoire of Zero was a genius. They started a whole new beach of learning that was refined over the ages. Sure magic now is different from back then with there being more styles, abilities, and diversity, but the author of the book started all this. If it weren't for them, none of the magic of today would exist. Zero can admit now that she idolizes the author of the Grimoire of Zero.

Zero tore her eyes from the book finally to look at Youhei. He had a bored/tired expression on his face as he used his left arm to support his head. The eager smile she had left her face realizing in down mood. At this rate they won't bond at all. They won't become friends. She can't have that, so she thinks of something to make this better... that's it!

"Youhei, could you look up any information that involves beastfallen in sorcery?"

"Huh? Uh sure..." he says getting up from their table to look around. If Zero knew anything about how people work, it's that their attention is always grabbed when it involves them due to how it relates to them. Besides he'd be helping as through sorcery, the beastfallen were created so they should be able to get valuable information from it.

So far from what she's been able to gather, sorcery was founded by men (like everything else apparently) who believed enough in the supernatural to prove it by using their scholar intellect and resources to create drawings that when formed correctly could summon demons from beyond to perform a certain task, the level of demon depended on location of summon due to various environments themselves having different levels of spiritual energy, the intricacy of the summoning circles and drawings as weaker demons are more common to basic ones while powerful demons are more common to bigger and more detailed ones, and the sorcerers level of skill, knowledge, and experience in the practice. Despite all the good it could bring, the practice of sorcery was looked down upon by many for its negatives: if done wrong the demon will run rampant and turn on the sorcerer that summoned it before its connection to Earth is lost and it vanishes, the preparations are time consuming, and many believed that practicing sorcery meant making deals with the devil himself. They weren't wrong about most of those things. Which then created the conflict between the sorcerers and everyone else, much like religion, they didn't want to stop doing something they took pride in studying thus began the war. At first it seemed like an easy victory for normal humanity as they were many while sorcerers were few, and the time it took for summons was too long and left many of them defenseless and open for the kill.

Zero guessed that this must be where magic came in. That one great, (and for some reason she felt the urge to add godly beautiful) hero of the sorcerers would rise up and reveal the power of magic and then they'd use it to fend off humanity until negotiations could be a thing. But then she realized that there was holes in that like: what about the beastfallen, how much time would sorcerers have needed to become adept in magic while fending off humans, and wouldn't they have easily won the war at that point as they had the power of magic now on their side cuppled with good old sorcery? Too many questions to prove her guess true. Luckily Youhei showed up in her time of need as it looked like he found what she requested and probably read it as the look on his face was that of bothered and like the one question that has nagged someone for years was finally answered. She turned to him and asked,

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah I did." He responded with a bit of a distant voice. "Answered questions I've had fo' a while."

"Well?" She asked interested in what he knows. Youhei takes a seat. He contemplates something, probably where to start his explanation before he settles with starting at the beginning,

"The beastfallen wer' created ta basically act as minions for the sorcerers an' as their soldiers. They wer' originally humans, some wer' family members, that they used sorcery ta put uh... animal-No Beastial Spirit's in 'em which changed 'em into beastfallen, an' then uh...-"

"-I think I understand now. Not all of the beastfallen liked that idea and so they didn't help, some sorcerers died before their beastfallen creations and so when the beastfallen died, the beast spirit would move on to a relative of the sorcerer and it would only become a cycle of reincarnation."

"That's it! Thanks, couldn' think of the words myself."

"It's ok. We now know sorcery's history as well as the beastfallens, we can move onto the beginning of magic now. Let's just put down the titles for our resource page."

"Great. Ya' know, 'ts not every ya' learn yer' 'ntire race was created ta fight someone else's war because they couldn' do it 'emselves."

"Hey!"

"Oh uh, sorry." He said to Zeros obviously offended response. Mage. Right. Insulting sorcerers is to her as insulting someone's favorite grandparent or something. So then, after researching sorcery at the library, they have to go to the "Museum of Magic" to go on a tour of the "Grimoire of Zero" and "The Witch Rebellion" topics that are connected somehow. The tour happens everyday apparently, about four times during business hours. Enough times that it became routine for the employees. So then they don't have to see it today, maybe tomorrow, it is the weekend so they don't have to worry about missing school until after tomorrow.

The two high schoolers typed down the titles of the five or so books they had and then returned them to their proper shelves. Along the way Youhei saw Zero adorably try to place a book that he himself got onto a shelf too high for her, even when hopping like she was. All the ladders were being used which meant-

" _Mercenary,_ can you put this up for me?"

"Wha- Come again?!"

"I said, "Youhei, can put this up for me?" Zero responded with a quirk of her eyebrow. It doesn't look like she called him by his nickname by accident from the looks of it, and up til now she always called him by his name so to suddenly call by nickname was different. It really shouldn't bother him as he's more used to being called by his nickname than his real name, but when Zero said it (maybe she did?) there was an odd sense of familiarity like she herself has called him that a thousand times. But they only met a couple days ago so then... F*ck it, just forget it. Youhei wanted to watch Zero adorably struggle a little more but with the request he had to take action. He took the book from her and slid it into the shelf, Zero grumbling with a red tinted face the whole time. He lightly patted her on the head as he turned and made his way towards the exit, smirking, saying,

"Ya' should drink mor' milk."

"I AM THE PROPER-"

"SSSSSSHHHHHH!" Youhei and the librarian both 'sh'd Zero in response to her outcry. Zero became more red as she grumbled and growled as they exited the building. Youhei struggled to hold in the laughter he had inside which disappeared when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and checked. Just a message from his mom, wanting to see if he was alright. He quickly typed an "Ok" and sent it,

"Who was that?"

"Jus' my ma'. Wanted ta see if everythin's alrigh'. Yurs do the same?"

"... Yes." Zero responded after a bit of a pause. Youhei took the silence as her checking, but really in truth she didn't. Zero didn't pull out her phone to check because they didn't message her. They never do. Zero honestly questions why she even has their numbers if they never talk. She sends them messages and calls... but they never respond, and she knows their ok as the money continues coming to the mansion and hasn't heard knews about them meeting an unfortunate demise. So their ok. They just ignore her... She's fine, that's fine, their fine, everything's fine... everything's fine.

Her stomach growled, bringing her back to the present. Zero blushed, (she's doing a lot of that in such a short amount of time) Youhei noticed this and chuckled,

"Come on, I know this great joint nearby. Ya'll love it."

Youhei had a kind, warm smile on his face when he said that. He was looking at Zero who looked at him with appreciation and astonishment. It might have been the position of the sun and it was noon now but when she looked at him, she felt really warm and happy inside. Youhei went a step further by holding out his hand so he can guide her, to him it was ordinary, nothing special, to Zero, it was like he was pulling her out of some darkness into the light. The darkness called loneliness and the light called companionship. She took his hand (man her hand was tiny in comparison to his) and followed him to their destination. This was what she saw when first looked at him. He was nice and kind, he just didn't show it. Zero smiled as they walked down the sidewalk through the city.

 _/Time skip/_

He was broke. He was broke and it was all Zeros fault. Apparently Zero forgot to bring her wallet when she left her house today and so he had to pay for their lunch. He still would have paid for most of it as a gentleman should but he wasn't prepared for Zeros appetite. Youhei himself made sense, a big guy needs to eat enough, no small amount. But Zero.. For a girl with such a small frame and so skinny, she was a monster, she ate more than him easily, her amount was his times three. Youhei whimpered at his now empty wallet as he walked into his house. He's got to ask Zero for her secret to such a nice figure when she eats so much. The amount she ate at lunch the day they met kinda made sense, she probably was really hungry, but after a couple days of the same event, something was wrong. Magic just has to be involved in this somehow because it's just not possible.

He sighed as at least he was able to apologize about the whole ugly thing when they met by using lunch as his token of forgiveness. Thankfully she was too busy disintegrating food from their table to ask him what he really thought when she asked him the question. It was late now, nighttime as he got home since he and Zero spent the rest of the day planning for the project and getting to know each other a little better. Zeros apparently practicing to make a career as a mage, helping people, traveling, all the kind of stuff of fantasy heroism like fighting the monsters: Nightwalkers, shadow demons with a mysterious origin. She mostly liked the idea of traveling and seeing places really, and he told his dream of being a chef and she gave some words of encouragement, it's nice to have support.

He opened the door to find his parents in the living room, worried looks on their faces. His father looked serious, contemplating something while his mother looked like she was going to burst in tears. Dread filled Youhei as he wondered what was wrong,

"Ma', pa', what's wrong?!"

"Youhei..." his mother responded, finding it difficult to answer him, but she mustered up the strength to answer,

"Holdem... he... hasn't come home all day, or answered his phone. We called the police... they... they said that it's most likely a kidnapping by _them_ as other people went missing too."

"Who's _them_?!" Youhei demanded wanting to know who took his brother. It was his father that answered him this time,

"That Terrorist group. _The Anti-Mages._ "

 **Writing Youheis dialogue is hard when you don't how his speech pattern works or however it's called. Some history on magic, sorcery, and beastfallen, not sure if it's all correct as I didn't refresh myself on the information before hand, but it's mostly correct. More is revealed about Zero, and Holdem goes missing. The focus of the next chapter is obvious. I feel like I also have to work on dialogue, I'm still trying to figure out how to structure it so it fits right to me. Hope you all like the chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

Youhei was pacing in his room, thinking about what the Anti-Mages want with Holdem. For gods sakes he was a high school student, sure he can be annoying and perverted but that's not enough to make some terrorist organization want to abduct him. The possibility of Holdem doing something illegal or behind him and their parents backs is a no because he's not the kind of person to keep secrets like that and in his words, "Isn't something gentlemanly that would win over the ladies hearts!" or something along those lines. Youhei didn't go to sleep, he refuses to like his parents. If tired, they had coffee, if they wanted to know if there's any news about Holdem, check each other every three minutes, and so on. Because. They want to know if their Holdem is safe.

Youhei really had the urge to go out and start rampaging at any places that have some bit of a lead to the Anti-Mages. They took _his brother,_ and they won't get away with it.

His phone buzzed, signifying an alert and Youhei immediately launched at it like a rocket to where it was perched on his nightstand, charging. He hoped it was News on Holdem but his shoulders slumped when it was just Zero sending him a text,

 _Zero_

 _[What time do you think we can meet tomorrow at the museum?]_

 _You_

 _[Can't tomorrow, maybe some other time]_

 _Zero_

 _[Why? What's wrong?]_

Just as he feared. She's trying to get involved. In the time Youhei's known Zero, he noticed that she tends to do these things to be on his good side, like help him with classwork, occasionally compliment him, offer to clean his Football gear after practice (which sounded a little creepy now that he thought about it). He didn't know why, she just does, and something like this is too personal and dangerous for her to get involved.

 _Zero_

 _[There's something your not telling me Youhei. What is it? Don't answer me honestly and truthfully and I'll come over myself to find out. Fair warning.]_

Ok now that is just wrong, does she have any idea how wrong that sounds. She just threatend him to talk about his personal life or else she'll come over to find out. He really doesn't want that, his parents are worried sick, his mom specifically, and Zero showing up to interrogate them is the last thing they need. He sighs knowing there's no way around it and responds,

 _You_

 _[My brother, Holdem, you know him, he's that dog beastfallen you met the same day we met and the one that was coming onto you and all that. Well he's missing, most likely kidnapped by the Anti-Mages and we're worried sick about him, the police and state mages haven't found any leads yet. I just can't stand not knowing if he's safe or not]_

There was a pause after he sent the message. Zero was probably processing the information and thinking of something.

He knew it before she even started typing,

 _Zero_

 _[Then allow me to help you. If we work together we can find him.]_

 _You_

 _[NO! This has nothing to do with you, the police and mages will handle it.]_

 _Zero_

 _[Didn't you say that they have no leads?]_

 _You_

 _[Yeah but that's right now at the moment. That can change.]_

 _Zero_

 _[By the time they do he'll be dead, along with anyone else that group abducted. But I think if we do it ourselves we can find something.]_

 _You_

 _[Why us? What could we possibly find? We're just high school teenagers, we'd be going in over our heads.]_

 _Zero_

 _[You give yourself too little credit Youhei. They won't suspect us because we're not part of the police or the mages of the state, to them we're nobody important. We can go to one of their meetings and search for your brother when no one's looking, and if we're spotted, you can use the natural abilities you have of being a beastfallen and I can use my magic. You won't need to worry about dying._

 _Because I will protect you.]_

That last part felt... odd yet familiar. Besides that she does raise a point. Because they're not part of the police or the mages of the state, they'll be overlooked, and because it's just the two of them it won't raise suspicion as it will just be Zero and him, not a group. Due to being a beastfallen though, Youhei will stand out but it seems from the text that Zero has a plan for that. She seems really confident in her abilities, let's just hope she can meet the challenge,

 _You_

 _[Where do we meet?]_

 _Zero_

 _[Glad you agree, meet me at the "La Tete Park", near the display area that explains the history of the park and the village that was once stood there.]_

 _You_

 _[Got it]_

Youhei slips his phone in his pocket and grabs some essentials incase things get ugly and leaves the house quietly to avoid making his parents suspicious.

'Hang on Holdem, bros. gonna find ya.' He mentally declares as he makes his way towards the park.

 _/ Time Skip /_

He looked around the park for any traces of Zero but still no sign of her. He decides to pass the time by reading up on the parks history honestly due to how bored he was despite the situation he was in. The display was a pretty large stone pedestal with the top slanted forward at an angle for all to read.

The park itself was named after the village that once stood there. It was lively with people and peaceful until the tragedy that took all the lives of its inhabitants. The village apparently held a secret witch academy for a revolutionary group called the "Coven of Zero" and that it trained individuals the art of magic and made them witches. A battle broke down between the Coven and another group, a group of rogue witches that once were members of the Coven but left to pursue their own desires. The two sides fought over possession of the great and powerful tome the Coven had. Youhei could only guess that it was one thing and he was right. The tome was the "Grimoire of Zero" and as they fought for it, the innocent villagers were caught in the crossfire. While the members of the Coven of Zero tried to protect the people due to the good relations they had, the rogue witches killed indiscriminately, taking both witch and villager lives. Unknown to both sides, there was a third party, one man that came and killed those of both sides as well as villagers to eliminate witnesses. The man tore through all opposition, none escaped him, the only escape they got was death. After eliminating all in the village he took the Grimoire and returned to the castle that the king of Wenias where he acts as a court mage as a cover for his true intentions. The village was never reinhabited in fear of it being haunted by all those that died and was left to the effects of time. Eventually it was torn town and a park was built in place with a memorial monument built for those that were lost in the tragedy.

'This Grimoire it talks about sounds like a lot of trouble, and we're researching this for our report. *sigh* mind as well take a pic, could be useful.'

Youhei pulls out his phone and takes a quick picture of the writing on the display. Turning away from it, Youhei looked around the park again for Zero and saw her approaching from his left. She was wearing her usual attire and was wearing a belt over her jacket that had a pouch big enough to store a good number of items. When she saw she smiled and slightly quickened her pace. When she reached he was first to speak,

"So What do we now? Any ideas where to look?"

She tilted her head down and clasped her chin between her index finger thumb, thinking. Suddenly her shot up slightly as from the looks of it she got an idea,

"On my first day at school, before I got there, I decided to take a trip around the city first, I got up extra early to avoid being late, and around the end I came through here to get to school and I saw this man preaching to everyone in the area about stopping the mages from controlling everything and a bunch of other nonsense. There were fliers for a meeting of some sort. We can get some from him and go."

"What makes ya' so sure he's the one? What if it's completely different, not at all connected?"

"The way he spoke made sound like mages were evil and needed to be destroyed and I noticed that he would subtly add the need to destroy magic but it was overshadowed by all his talk of taking back control of the government for the common people. I also have a hunch about this."

"Ok?... Wait. Why did ya' go around the city before school when can always do that after? Tight curfew? New to the city, and wanted to look around?"

"... Something like that."

He quirked an eyebrow at that. What did she mean by that?

"Anyways it appears he's not here. We'll just wait until he comes."

"What makes ya' so sure ha'll be back?"

"When I saw him, the people in the areas reaction to him showed that he had common appearances and were used to him... That or they didn't care about what nonsense he spoke." He sweat dropped at that, but it was better than nothing. Sure it could barely be called a lead, but it's the only things they've got right now. He moves over to a nearby tree and sits down, Zero following suit. They sit next to each other in silence, awkward silence, and it really bothered Youhei. He decided to mind as well ask her some things,

"So uh... wanna tell me about magic?"

"What?" She said, turning her head towards him,

"I don't know! Just something to talk about, the silence is killing me!"

"Well ok if it will make you feel better. What do you want to ask?"

"... Hm... how about why the Anti-Mages want my brother?" He looked towards her intently as he said it. She looked ahead of her first then down, thinking, contemplating, before finally nodding and looking back to him,

"I honestly don't know. Though it could have something to do with the things we read about sorcery, the beastfallen were created by sorcery, and the Anti-Mages seem to hate all things connected to magic. But. It would make no sense as beastfallen have evolved from being mere humans imbued with beastial spirits and became their own race like humans with their own races. Because of that, the beastial spirit no longer dwells within them, meaning their no longer connected to magic... so then... that could mean one thing..."

"...What?" Youhei felt dread and something akin to a pit in his stomach,

"They want to erase magic from history. The beastfallen are no longer magical in nature, but their are technically magical in origin. That might explain them targeting beastfallen as well and not just humans."

"Why would they want to erase magic from history, isn't it supposed to be some cool power?"

"*chuckles* yes it is a 'cool power' but magic is a lot like a sword, it is worthless without a swordsman and it is only up to the swordsman that wields it that decides whether it's good or evil. It appears that the Anti-Mages only see magic as evil."

"Do you think they are being Hippocrates or somethin because they don't have magic?"

"No. Like the beastfallen, Magic has evolved too. How it happened is still unclear to this day but the fact of the matter still stands. Magic has become essential to human survival, as essential as blood or the heart. Without it, anyone, human or beastfallen, will die." Youhei eyes widened at this. He didn't know that. So everyone basically has magic running in their veins, including him, how did he not know this?

"Now know this Youhei, information like this isn't public knowledge. And for good reason. If everyone knew that they had magic, many would drive to use it, leading them to being reckless, and thus leading to death. Think of a magic as also a bone or muscle, for some, with practice it can become stronger, but for others, they can't use, like an evolutionary leftover so to say, it's there but they can't use it. It depends on if you have an affinity for magic when you are born. Like some who are stronger academically, and others who are stronger physically, there are those that are stronger magically. People would perform terrible and foolish actions to prove they can use magic. Ranging from starting fires so they can put them out, jumping off buildings to see if they can glide using the air, to standing on the street in front of incoming cars to see if they could bend their magically energy to act as a shield around their body, and greatly wounding their bodies to see if they can heal themselves. It would be chaos. To prevent this, mage family's were created to act as those born with a special gift and that their lineage will produce magically inclined offspring. In the case someone from a normal family is born with an affinity for magic, they will be taught with others like them and descendants from mage family's to become mages of the state after swearing an oath through a magic contract to keep the secrets of the order and to serve it to their fullest, pledging their lives to it. The individuals with magic from non-mage families can either start one of their own and get the added benefits of having one like special protection and a voice in the discussions but will have to have created a form of magic craft that only their family bloodline can achieve, called a "Special Craft", a feat that is certainly difficult to obtain as it would take years, maybe generations of practice to create through trial and error."

"What about decedents in a mage family born without a magic affinity? What will happen to them?

"... Then they're thrown away. Put up for adoption and will live a normal life with no ties to their magical heritage. If one doesn't decide to start a mage family, they can have a semi-mage one, without the benefits but free to live as they please without having to give up their children if their not magically inclined. They won't have a voice in the politics of the order or protection."

"Geez sounds like you magicians have a pretty intricate system there."

"*glare* Don't call me that!"

"C-call you what?!" Youhei responded in a hurry, startled by her sudden anger,

"A "Magician". Back when magic was new, people were called that but over time when magic evolved, those who wielded it only grew stronger and stronger, like technology, for a example a phone, communication had to be done with letters that would take days, months, or years to be received, now it only takes seconds for people to message from opposite sides o the world. Like communication in this case where it got faster and easier, Magic became stronger and stronger. Now, in the mages society, such a name is frowned upon and is given to second rate mages who are weak and have no potential. They're given the name magician as an insult and a way of saying, "You will only ever be a strong as we were when magic was born". Magicians are only good as entertainment for children's birthday party's."

'God damn she just gave me a lecture for one word. It's like she wants to talk for hours on end.' Youhei though after Zero was done. In all honesty to him, Youhei has mixed feelings about the mages society, there are things about them that are considerate and caring that he likes, but also there are things about being discriminatory and heartless that he doesn't like.

"What does the mages society actually do?"

"The mages society helps improve and further humanity in multiple fields through its mages of the state. The government funds it and the members are dubbed "Mages of The State" as they work not just the government and the state but also the state of humanity, human and beastfallen alike. Mages work in medicine, travel, research, and perhaps most importantly of all protection. As you know, the demons, Nightwalkers, are monsters of unknown origin as they appeared suspiciously close after magic began to evolve. Remember how the books on sorcery said that summons of demons are affected by the location of the ritual, due to its spiritual and magical energy, well that rule applies to Nightwalkers, they appear at night when protection from the light is gone as it is dark out and the level of threat the Nightwalkers are depends on where they are. The threat level goes from one to fifteen. The tiniest and weakest ones are a one, but the bigger, stronger, and more monstrous ones that are the size of mountains are a fifteen. Mages are perfect for countering Nightwalkers to protect mankind as their magic is a great counter to them and along the way will be able to learn more about the Nightwalkers origins and how to stop them. Funny enough when magic began, people called upon the power of demons without summoning them to perform great feats like heal wounds and shoot an infinite number of arrows, that was magic of time, calling upon the power of demons without summoning them. When magic evolved, mages weren't calling upon a demons power to perform feats normally deemed impossible, because now, all magic was naturally from mages.-"

She snaps her fingers and a small flame appeared above her index finger,

"-See this? This is all me, no demons involved, just me using the magical energy I was born with to make my own fire."

"Cool! So then that makes ya' a state mage right?"

"I'm actually a mage in training, I'm part of a mage family in this city. Right now I'm studying here and then when the time comes, I'll travel to continue my studies at the academies they have around the world practicing my craft. So I'm studying Magecraft as well as normal school academics." She says then blowing out the candle on her finger.

The two continue to converse for a while, eventually falling getting tired and despite their best efforts, fell asleep. Youheis sleeping form leaned against the tree behind them sleeping peacefully with Zeros leaned against his a little off to the side, head resting on the side of his upper body using it as a pillow with one arm and hand clutching his jacket. Youheis arm was draped over her, protectively, and was acting as a blanket to keep her warm and safe in the dark cold night.

 _There once was a beast man,_

 _He was born a beast and treated like a beast by society,_

 _All except his family,_

 _But even that couldn't last,_

 _They were targeted along with his village by bandits,_

 _It cost the lives of villagers while he hid,_

 _The bandits promised to return to do so again,_

 _All for his head,_

 _He couldn't stand that and set off to confront them,_

 _It was bloody, but in the end he was victorious,_

 _He gained a scar over his nose to serve as a reminder,_

 _Of what he has become,_

 _He set off, leaving his home knowing it was not his place to stay,_

 _Not anymore,_

 _As he traveled, he was attacked by mercenaries and bandits,_

 _He was attacked by an army of them at one time,_

 _But he didn't fall,_

 _He was nicknamed the "Black Beast" for his figure was covered in both the blood of his enemies,_

 _And his own,_

 _He went on, becoming a mercenary and becoming cold and distant in the process,_

 _He became stronger, and more skilled in the art of murder,_

 _When the kingdom of Wenias called for Mercenary's_ _to help in the witch hunts,_

 _He answered,_

 _Eager to take vengeance on those responsible for his hardships,_

 _The beast man went forth to Wenias,_

 _Funny enough, once he was there,_

 _It didn't take long to run into a witch,_

 _Instead of slaying them,_

 _He..._

 _Was forced to run away from them as they were shooting at him,_

 _That's when he ran into her,_

 _His first thought when he saw her face,_

 _Without being covered by her hood,_

 _Was that she was beautiful,_

 _It turned out that she too was a witch but she didn't attack him,_

 _He was still scared and wary of her but after some discussing and explaining,_

 _She hired him as her mercenary to protect her until she can find her sacred grimoire,_

 _A book that teaches magic and is capable of destroying the world,_

 _In exchange for turning him into a human,_

 _Faced with the chance of finally living a normal life,_

 _The mercenary accepts,_

 _Soon after that they run into the witch that attacked him,_

 _The witch that hired him made quick work of disarming them by canceling their magic,_

 _After explaining their goal to the witch that turned out to be a child,_

 _And the young witch naively Believing that the good witch was a comrade,_

 _The three set off to retrieve the book,_

 _Along the way, the situation in Wenias became more and more clear,_

 _What was once believed true and fact turned out to be wrong and biased,_

 _The mercenary learns of how wrong he was about witches,_

 _They weren't entirely these evil, heartless people,_

 _But people that once wanted to use their abilities to help,_

 _And that was ruined by incidents caused by mere coincidence,_

 _He and the good witch bond along the way,_

 _With the young witch just being a third wheel at some points,_

 _Eventually they ended up in the capital of Wenias,_

 _Against the good witches brother who was revealed to have been the one that stole her book,_

 _In a twisted, incorrect way, the brother was set on making the good witches wish and goals come true,_

 _All for her..._

 _The mercenary wouldn't admit it,_

 _But there always was some bit of jealousy he had in the way the good witch spoke of her brother,_

 _The brother was able to trick the mercenary into turning on the good witch by using his doubts to gain control,_

 _The result of the mercenary's action was the breaking of his and the good witches contract,_

 _While he felt at a loss, confused after that,_

 _The good witch was heartbroken,_

 _As she developed feelings for the beast man along the way and whenever she flirted and tried making advancements on him,_

 _He played it off as her being confused about what she wants,_

 _Flustered each and every time,_

 _After the two parted ways,_

 _The beast man ran into a fellow beast,_

 _Though he wasn't so friendly in the encounter,_

 _Rogue witches attacked the mercenary,_

 _In the end he was able to scare most off,_

 _Except for one,_

 _He was hungry at the time,_

 _And the deep animalistic hunger for flesh that the bestial spirit inside him desired leaked out,_

 _Before he could eat the unfortunate witch that was his prey,_

 _Words that the good witch spoke in a memory came to mind,_

 _And that alone was enough to get the beast man to regain his senses,_

 _He decides to work with the other beast man who was betrayed by the witches in the process of the ambush,_

 _They worked together to save the young witch that was going to be burned on the stake and together the three planned to erase magic from Wenias to end the war,_

 _They needed the good witch though for it to work and the beast man saw this as an opportunity,_

 _To fix things with her,_

 _Redemption,_

 _He set off to the castle,_

 _Climbing it from outside to the top where she resided,_

 _When the beast man and good witch reunited,_

 _It was very emotional for one of them,_

 _The good witch demanded, pleaded to know what he wanted from her,_

 _Because she doesn't want him to leave her again,_

 _The reunion was ended when the brother appeared and initially locked the good witch in a cage,_

 _She was quickly freed when the beast man threw a potion he had been given by the brother as a form of bribery to against his and the good witches contract,_

 _This potion is widely considered the very first potion,_

 _It's purpose is to remove magical effects from a person or thing that had it,_

 _It could have been used to make him human but instead was used to free the witch from her magic cage,_

 _She and the brother then commenced in magic combat,_

 _Her obviously being the clear soon to be victor,_

 _But in the process would kill her brother,_

 _She'd be killing her only family left,_

 _She'd be killing all the witches in Wenias other than herself,_

 _Including the young witch,_

 _The guilt that would follow that would be too much,_

 _So the beast man ran in to prevent the killing blow,_

 _But..._

 _Unknown to the beast man,_

 _There was a magic seal on him that whenever he is attacked and receives blows,_

 _All the damage would go to her,_

 _She purposefully placed it on him as she did promise him,_

 _That she will protect him,_

 _So when the mercenary jumped in and shielded the brother from the spell,_

 _And took the hit,_

 _All the damage was dealt to the witch instead,_

 _The beast man was filled with sorrow as she lay there unmoving,_

 _He came to save but instead brought her demise,_

 _There was a moment of silence as the two men stood by her body,_

 _Thinking about her,_

 _And the sad moment was ruined when she suddenly sat up like it was no problem,_

 _After explaining to them her intentional errors in her book,_

 _They set off to assist the young witch and other beast man in setting up the ritual to erase magic from Wenias,_

 _After preparations were made and the enemy forces were held off from disrupting the ritual,_

 _The beast man was used as a temporary vessel to hold the powerful demon they were summoning that would erase magic from Wenias,_

 _As a result of the ritual, the beast man went unconscious,_

 _His tired form resting with his head laid on the witches lap, using it as a pillow,_

 _He was asleep for days and when he came to,_

 _The witch explained to him that the beastial spirit inside him has become more attached to his soul,_

 _And so it would require more magic to transform him into a human,_

 _And sadly,_

 _The ritual drained her of nearly all her magic and so it would take time for her energy to replenish,_

 _The two soon set off to find an elusive copy of her grimoire that had leaked out from Wenias into the neighboring kingdoms,_

 _To prevent any chaos from ensuing,_

 _They left to go search,_

 _The journey took them far,_

 _They faced hardships,_

 _They met many people in their travels,_

 _Some would be friends,_

 _Some would be enemies,_

 _Some would be friends that become enemies,_

 _And enemies that would become friends,_

 _All that complicated relationship stuff,_

 _And along they way they grew closer,_

 _Eventually they became no longer business partners,_

 _But lovers,_

 _They got married,_

 _And even opened a tavern in his old village that they returned to,_

 _The beast man did become human for a short time during the journey,_

 _But turned back to a beast for a reason he wouldn't proudly admit,_

 _But he was happy with that,_

 _Because he wanted to become a human so he would be accepted by society,_

 _Accepted by strangers that he'll probably never see again,_

 _When all that really mattered was acceptance by those close to you,_

 _Your friends and loved ones,_

 _The people who actually mattered,_

 _And he learned that the hard way when he turned into a human in exchange for something very precious to himself,_

 _Something more precious than any of his items or skills,_

 _His #%#? ?[ %,_

 _He was content with being a beast as long as his love, the good witch, was content,_

 _Which she always easily is when she can sleep on top of him,_

 _Eventually something unforeseen and wondrous happened,_

 _She became pregnant with their child,_

 _He thought it was impossible because of what he was but it happened,_

 _they excited but also scared,_

 _Excited at the chance of being parents and raising a child,_

 _But scared of all the things that could go wrong,_

 _Eventually the child was born,_

 _A boy,_

 _Sharing many characteristics with his mother like his hair, eyes, and some facial features,_

 _And sharing characteristics as well with the beast man, his father, the markings of a tiger that cover his body were also on his son, though he didn't have a tail or cat ears,_

 _Normal human ears,_

 _The two decided that they would do their best to give this child a good life,_

 _No matter what,_

 _There once was a beast man,_

 _And his name was Youhei._

In her sleep, Zero turned more towards Youhei, and tightened her grip, as if trying to hold onto him, keep him from going away, leaving her.

 _There once was a witch,_

 _She was born in a cave,_

 _She was raised in a cave,_

 _Of witches and sorcerers,_

 _She grew up as a witch,_

 _A scholar,_

 _Not a normal girl,_

 _Never knowing the love of parents,_

 _Never knowing what it was like to have friends,_

 _Alone,_

 _The closest to family she had was her older brother and her master,_

 _Ever since she gained the mental capacity to wonder what it was like outside the caves,_

 _She questioned,_

 _Asked what it was like out there as her only proof that there is a world outside the caves was a hole in the ceiling of the caves,_

 _And light would shine through it,_

 _Beautiful light,_

 _She then believed that if even a tiny portion of what's outside is this pretty,_

 _Then the world outside the caves must be incredible,_

 _In the beginning, the little witch would wander the caves in secret,_

 _When no ones looking,_

 _In search for an exit to the caves,_

 _Eventually she found one,_

 _Around a corner, light was pouring into the dark corridors of the cave,_

 _Giving it life,_

 _Before she could go any further though,_

 _Her master found her and hastily pulled her away from there and back towards where everyone else is,_

 _It was then that he told her why,_

 _Why she could never leave the caves,_

 _How the outside world is dangerous,_

 _That it would want to see those like her,_

 _A little girl who's done nothing wrong,_

 _Dead,_

 _And that as long as she stays there,_

 _In the caves,_

 _She would be safe,_

 _She then stopped trying to leave and tried focusing on other things,_

 _Like her studies,_

 _Not her boredom,_

 _Her fantasies,_

 _Her loneliness..._

 _Eventually, when she was older,_

 _She asked why the world hates people like them,_

 _And she was told that it was because of what they can do,_

 _That some were jealous that they couldn't perform sorcery,_

 _And that some didn't like the facts that demons were involved in sorcery,_

 _So she began to theorize,_

 _If something new could be created,_

 _Something that is less time consuming and more accessible to everyone,_

 _Something that can make living easier,_

 _Then the world won't hate them anymore,_

 _She felt that she needed to do this as she realizes over time that,_

 _All they do in the caves is repetitive,_

 _Nothing new,_

 _Just the same things everyday,_

 _And that filled her with dread,_

 _Dread that she'll spend her entire life doing the same thing everyday and accomplish nothing,_

 _That she'll stay in the dark, withering away while there's an entire world out there with limitless possibilities,_

 _When her brother heard of this,_

 _Her plan to change things and make witches and sorcerers viewed as something good out there,_

 _He looked at her like she was his lord and savior,_

 _In a way she opened his eyes,_

 _He always felt the same way but pushed that aside due to thinking that it's wrong to think that way,_

 _So she spent her free time researching,_

 _Testing,_

 _Experimenting,_

 _Through trial and error,_

 _Eventually she got something,_

 _One day when she was alone, she drew summoning circles and glyphs,_

 _All high level formations,_

 _Meaning she summon she was aiming for is a powerful one,_

 _When she performed the ritual, instead of a demon appearing,_

 _Black cloud of smoke appeared,_

 _One with red eyes inside it fitting of a demon, with slits for pupils that showed the savagery it possessed,_

 _What she summoned was apparently so powerful,_

 _It could not be allowed to be completely summoned as its power had to be limited to keep reality from tearing,_

 _It asked for why she summoned it and she requested,_

 _To have the names and abilities of all demons it commands and rules so she could create something called,_

 _"Magic",_

 _The demon considered this and agreed but on one condition,_

 _She *~}• % $} @[..._

 _She agreed, as she felt she didn't have much to lose at the time,_

 _And from there the demon would give her the information through a mental link,_

 _And she'll write into a book of it all,_

 _Eventually it was finished, and she made sure there were mistakes in the book to prevent chances of defeat by anyone,_

 _She first tested it herself,_

 _Performing each spell both the right way and incorrect way to make sure it works,_

 _After it proved successful, she showed it to her brother so he could test it,_

 _Obviously keeping out the fact that what he's reading was filled with purposeful errors,_

 _He practiced the craft and as he did,_

 _She observed him keeping note of things she notices,_

 _Like how he's stronger in one field than another,_

 _That his staff boosts his magic performance,_

 _And other things that were important,_

 _Together, they polished the craft, as brother and sister,_

 _But behind her back, her brother was making plans,_

 _One day when she was asleep,_

 _Her brother went through the caves,_

 _And killed everyone..._

 _Everyone except for her,_

 _Never her..._

 _When she woke up and saw what happened,_

 _The bodies,_

 _She was shocked and saddened,_

 _Her brother told her how her book was taken and to stay there,_

 _In the caves,_

 _While he went out and gets it back,_

 _She agreed, believing in her big brother and waited,_

 _And waited,_

 _And waited,_

 _And waited..._

 _It would be about a decade before she's finally had enough of being alone in the caves,_

 _And leaves,_

 _She couldn't stand being alone anymore,_

 _With no one to talk to,_

 _No one to spend time with,_

 _Just her and the books and papers that litter the cave,_

 _Alone..._

 _When she walks into the light, the first thing she does is,_

 _Destroy the entrance so she can never go back,_

 _When she turns and finally sees the world,_

 _It truly was beautiful,_

 _She would have stayed and admired the scenery a little longer from where she was,_

 _On the side of the mountain,_

 _But she had a job to do,_

 _As she set off, traveling through this unknown land,_

 _She made encounters with people on the road and in villages she made her way through,_

 _I didn't take long for them to surmise that she was a witch and began hunting her,_

 _This would go on for days,_

 _She runs into some people,_

 _They guess tat she is a witch due to how odd she was,_

 _And began chasing her like a mob,_

 _No one was friendly,_

 _Master was right,_

 _The people out here are unkind to those like her,_

 _Already she witnessed some events of witches being burned on the stake,_

 _People would curse them, blame them for things that just made no sense,_

 _Took all their pent up anger out on witches with the excuse that their evil to get away with it,_

 _They'd throw rocks, fruits, even dead rodents filled with diseases at the defenseless, burning people so their last moments were unkind,_

 _It was difficult to get her hands on decent food,_

 _One day, she actually had enough to make a soup,_

 _Spent the whole day preparing it so it would be nice,_

 _But..._

 _It was ruined right before she could even have a taste of it by a douche of a beast man that fell from the sky and made no mind of the wrong he's committed,_

 _Only warning she got was some pieces of rock dropping into her soup from above before it was spilled to the side by the impact of his landing,_

 _An entire days worth of preparation,_

 _Gone..._

 _Her rightful, angry rant at him for spilling her soup was interrupted by a random flying arrow of light,_

 _She instantly recognized it as one of her spells from her book,_

 _The spell was 'Staim',_

 _And unlike a normal person, or what she considers 'normal' in the time she spent 'interacting' with people out here,_

 _He grabbed her and ran,_

 _Protecting her,_

 _After separating herself from him and trapping the attacking witch in an earth prison,_

 _She announced herself to being a Mud Black witch in her beautiful glory,_

 _He response to that was unique,_

 _Even after such a magnificent display of a reveal,_

 _He ran away at a surprisingly fast pace,_

 _After searching and finding him,_

 _She helped herself to his soup as payment for the beast man ruining hers,_

 _After he collected himself from his initial surprise at seeing her,_

 _He grabbed his soup and ran,_

 _He only stopped when she said that it was great and that she was hungry,_

 _When she was allowed to have some, she asked why he hated witches so much,_

 _He told her to look at his face and she'd know why,_

 _And she saw nothing wrong,_

 _He was quite handsome actually,_

 _Both his human face and beast,_

 _The human for its certainly welcoming features,_

 _And the beast having the features of a predator which would have its advantages,_

 _She wouldn't be able to call herself a witch if she couldn't see his human face,_

 _After promising to make him human after he protects her while they search for her book,_

 _They seal the deal by pressing their bleeding thumbs together as a sign of trust,_

 _The next day, after she demonstrates the difference between magic and sorcery,_

 _And quickly subduing and recruiting the attacker now revealed to be young witch, they set off in search of her book,_

 _Along they way, the three bonded,_

 _She bonded more with the beast man than the young witch but they bonded none the less,_

 _In the beginning, she at first found the beast man intriguing,_

 _Then as time went on, that changed,_

 _Her heart would beat faster in his presence, and his acts of kindness and the guidance he gave even though he didn't have to fueled the change,_

 _Soon enough when she learned what a kiss was and what it meant, she wanted to kiss him to show her gratitude and appreciation for him,_

 _She didn't understand why he'd get all flustered at that and deny it,_

 _She then decided that she didn't want them to part ways,_

 _She wanted to keep his company forever,_

 _It was so nice to converse with someone and be treated like anybody else,_

 _She wasn't being treated like some child or student,_

 _And she wasn't being treated like some goddess,_

 _She was being treated as anyone else was,_

 _It was nice,_

 _He was nice,_

 _And that's when the fearfull realization came in,_

 _Once he was human, she thinks-no-knows that he will run off as soon as possible to get away from her and everything else so he can start his tavern in peace,_

 _Leaving her alone again,_

 _And then meeting that girl that she will most definitely be jealous of for getting to have him all to herself,_

 _She really didn't want that, so she tried to find reasons for them to stay together even after they fulfill their contract, in vain,_

 _Eventually they run into her brother, she was both happy and annoyed to see him,_

 _Happy that he was alive,_

 _Annoyed that he hasn't sent any word to her in over a decade,_

 _And a little angry that he sucked the magic out of people which in turned killed them but that can be overlooked,_

 _After having her magic duel with him interrupted by the alarm that it was dinner time, to which they stopped due to years of habit of stopping everything to have their food, with their master imposing it,_

 _They discussed the issue of her book, with the young witch figuring out that she wasn't on their side,_

 _All she said was that she wrote the book,_

 _Nothing more,_

 _Nothing less,_

 _Though she did feel a little bad, the bonded with the witch in training in their travels,_

 _They became sort of like friends,_

 _Definitely more bonded than she was with the witches and sorcerers in the caves that she studied with,_

 _Then later that night, her brother did something that truelly angered her,_

 _He made the beast man turn on her,_

 _He pointed his sword at her as if in fear,_

 _She found out that he was under her brothers control by looking at his eyes,_

 _His kind sky blue,_

 _Was replaced with fearful purple,_

 _She yelled that he was a fool and he was released from her brothers control,_

 _But the damage was already done,_

 _The only way her brother can control someone like that was by using the doubts in their heart,_

 _Which means he doubted her,_

 _Doubted her even after all her talk about how she will protect him even with her life,_

 _That he can trust her like she trusted him,_

 _But he didn't,_

 _He never did,_

 _So she told him to go away,_

 _That she never wanted to see him again,_

 _She left heartbroken and looked at the small scar on her thumb that was meant to be a symbol of her and the beast mans trust of one another,_

 _All she saw was a pointless one,_

 _She confronted her brother,_

 _To take vengeance for ruining the friendship she finally had,_

 _But before anything could happen,_

 _She was suddenly struck with an extreme amount of pain in her midsection,_

 _Pain,_

 _She never really felt this much of it before,_

 _And blacked out,_

 _Must have been the seal she placed on the beast man back at that inn,_

 _The one where any damage inflicted on him would go to her,_

 _That day was really not her day,_

 _When she came to, she was trapped in a room filled with books wrapped in bandages,_

 _Most likely her brothers doing,_

 _He never was good at healing magic,_

 _She didn't expect much to change from there,_

 _She though that this was where her journey ended,_

 _But then after about a day or two,_

 _The beast man came crashing through the roof,_

 _After she shouted, pleaded for what he wanted from her,_

 _He already broke her heart,_

 _What else did he want,_

 _She just wanted him to stay, to never leave her,_

 _Not again,_

 _Not ever again,_

 _He told her that he wanted to just get her out of there,_

 _That he wasn't expecting her to forgive him,_

 _That she shouldn't have expected him to completely trust a witch after everything he's been through,_

 _And their plan to erase magic from Wenias,_

 _Before the two could get out of there though,_

 _Her brother forcefully summoned them back into the dungeon,_

 _With her in a magic resistant cage,_

 _And the beast man down there with her brother,_

 _Away from her protection,_

 _She watched, as the beast man made it clear to her brother of his faulty,_

 _That he misinterpreted her dream,_

 _And pointed out what he made her go through,_

 _Ten years of loneliness in a mountain with no one to talk to straight,_

 _It all made her brother waver enough for the beast man to throw a bottle he had at her cage,_

 _When it struck, she was freed,_

 _And oh how glad she was to be freed,_

 _Her brother and her had their battle,_

 _She quite easily overpowered him,_

 _Using high level spells that didn't really fit the purpose of her book which was to simply make life easier,_

 _All she wanted was to let out all the pent up anger she had at her brother out,_

 _Make him pay for stealing her book and putting through the solitude,_

 _She didn't care about what would happen in the long run in the moment,_

 _She only stopped when she was hit with pain again caused by the seal on the beast man,_

 _He protected her brother who unintentionally hurt her,_

 _She didn't know why but she felt relieved for that,_

 _When she came to she was still laying on the hard floor of the dungeon,_

 _The wound she had didn't really bother her so she got up much to the beast man and her brothers surprise,_

 _After finally telling them of the errors in the book,_

 _They went off to stop the war,_

 _It was draining but she did it,_

 _The magic in Wenias was gone,_

 _And the beastial spirit attaches itself tighter to the beast man which meant that she needed more magic than before to turn him human,_

 _Magic she didn't have at the moment, so then staying together for a little while longer is a bonus,_

 _It will certainly be helpful in their search for the copy of her book that's out there,_

 _They set off to find it,_

 _They bonded more along the way, it being tested during hardships,_

 _But they pulled through,_

 _She certainly was in love with him,_

 _That was made obvious to herself early on in the journey,_

 _With the jealousy she felt, how her face would get hot, and more,_

 _At least it wasn't one sided,_

 _They made friends,_

 _Enemies,_

 _Enemies that became friends,_

 _Friends that became me enemies,_

 _And all the other weird things in relationships,_

 _At the end, she and the beast man got married,_

 _They went to his home village and settled down there,_

 _She opened a fortune shop there for a little while but settled with helping him with his tavern,_

 _One plus to working in a maid outfit was the number of customers it brought,_

 _Though he'd always counter that by kicking a good number of customers out for some reason,_

 _Especially the ones that were acting really nice and holding her hand for long moments of time like it was a flower too,_

 _She never understood that,_

 _Then it happened,_

 _She was pregnant with her and the beast mans child,_

 _She used magic to make it easier to happen, to kind of bend the rules of what can and can't produce a child hybrid of the two species,_

 _And her little thundercat was the result of that and her and the beast mans..._

 _Private time is the way to describe it for safe ears,_

 _She never regretted it,_

 _Nor did he,_

 _They vowed to do their best in raising him,_

 _To help him grow up nicely,_

 _To show him that he's loved,_

 _And not alone._

 _There once was a witch,_

 _And her name was Zero._

In his sleep, Youhei tightened his grip on Zero, and turned towards her some as if to reassure her that he's not going anywhere.

 _There once was a hybrid,_

 _A hybrid of a beast man and a human witch,_

 _He was very cheerful and an optimist,_

 _Seeing the good in everything, even some would call it foolish,_

 _He was okay with that,_

 _He liked to help,_

 _To be like a hero in the stories read to children at night to bed,_

 _Doing good things made him happy,_

 _Being selfless made him happy,_

 _Made him feel good,_

 _But there were none like him,_

 _He was the only one of his kind,_

 _And others didn't treat him so kindly for that fact,_

 _He parents treated him with love,_

 _As well as friends of theirs that would visit,_

 _But everyone else didn't,_

 _Both beast man and human saw him as something else,_

 _something worse,_

 _They would alienate and antagonize him,_

 _Just for being different,_

 _Just because he wasn't human,_

 _Or because he wasn't a beast man,_

 _When he lost his temper one time,_

 _He scared off all the children with his angry look alone,_

 _It was enough to frighten the adults too,_

 _After that day, he was given a nickname that was never forgotten,_

 _He was called,_

 _The demon,_

 _Like the ones below but given human like form,_

 _To protect his parents tavern from being treated badly for being associated with him,_

 _He'd alienate himself from them in public and act like they were strangers,_

 _To protect them,_

 _That's what made it bearable_

 _His mother was incredible in magic which he found super cool,_

 _So he asked her to teach him,_

 _His dad was a great cook and in fighting,_

 _She asked him to teach him those things as well,_

 _At a young age, he was at a decent level in those things but not a master like them,_

 _He had a goal in life,_

 _To be a hero children will look up to when the world seems to be against them like it has been for him,_

 _A hero that would go down in legend,_

 _One that future generations would compare to King Arthur and Hercules once he's gone,_

 _There once was a hybrid,_

 _And his name was @%*#._

In their sleep, Zero and Youhei snuggled closer together, seeking warmth. Prideful smiles appeared on their faces as they slept peacefully through the night.

 **And done! So the dream sequences were mostly summaries of what happened in the first part of Grimoire of Zero, taking place from both of their point of views. After that, it was just my ideas of what happened, though them being married is true as well as the tavern. A lot is explained on the kind of world they live in and details about it will play important roles later on in the story. Hope you guys like this chapter! Also, do note that I am writing this on my phone, so the dream sequences may seem weird for some people. I wish I could have done better on it but oh well. Have a nice day!**


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